Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Woman in Sacred History
.pdf
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY
the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but
thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take
a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto
this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from
whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware
that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of
heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from
the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and sware
unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall
send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto
my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to
follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only
bring not my son thither again.”
Here it is remarkable that the servant is addressed as
the legal guardian of the son. Abraham does not caution Isaac
as to whom he should marry, but cautions the old servant of
the house concerning the woman to whom he should marry
Isaac. It is apparently understood that, in case of Abraham’s
death, the regency in the family falls into the hands of this
servant.
The picture of the preparations made for this embassy denotes a princely station and great wealth. “And the servant
took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for
all the goods of his master were in his hand; and he arose, and
went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.”
Now comes a quaint and beautiful picture of the manners of those pastoral days. “And he made his camels to kneel
41
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
down without the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.”
Next, we have a specimen of the kind of prayer which obtained in those simple times, when men felt as near to God
as a child does to its mother. Kneeling, uncovered, in the evening light, the gray old serving-man thus talks to the invisible
Protector: — “O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee,
send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and
the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let
down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall
say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be
she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby
shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master.”
This is prayer. Not a formal, ceremonious state address to
a monarch, but the talk of the child with his father, asking
simply and directly for what is wanted here and now. And
the request was speedily granted, for thus the story goes on:
“And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of
Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.” It is noticeable, how strong is the sensibility to womanly beauty in this
narrative. This young Rebekah is thus announced: “And
the damsel was very fair to look upon, and a virgin, and she
went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.”
Drawn by the bright eyes and fair face, the old servant hastens to apply the test, doubtless hoping that this lovely creature is the one appointed for his young master. “And the ser-
42
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY
vant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little
water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she
hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave
him drink.”She gave with a will, with a grace and readiness
that overflowed the request; and then it is added: “And when
she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for
thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted
and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto
the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.” Let us fancy ten camels, all on their knees in a row, at the trough, with
their long necks, and patient, careworn faces, while the pretty
young Jewess, with cheerful alacrity, is dashing down the water from her pitcher, filling and emptying in quick succession,
apparently making nothing of the toil; the gray-haired old servant looking on in devout recognition of the answer to his
prayer, for the story says: “And the man wondering at her, held
his peace, to wit [know] whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.”
There was wise penetration into life and the essentials of
wedded happiness in this prayer of the old servant. What he
asked for his young master was not beauty or talent, but a ready
and unfailing outflow of sympathy and kindness. He sought
not merely for a gentle nature, a kind heart, but for a heart
so rich in kindness that it should run even beyond what was
asked, and be ready to anticipate the request with new devices of helpfulness. The lively, light-hearted kindness that could
not be content with waiting on the thirsty old man, but with
cheerful alacrity took upon herself the care of all the ten camels, this was a gift beyond that of beauty; yet when it came in
43
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
the person of a maiden exceedingly fair to look upon, no marvel that the old man wondered joyously at his success.
When the camels had done drinking, he produced from his
treasury a golden earring and bracelets, with which he adorned
the maiden. “And he said to her, Whose daughter art thou? tell
me, I pray thee; is there room in thy father’s house for us to
lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel
the son of Milcah, which she bare to Nahor.She said, moreover, unto him, We have both straw and provender enough,
and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and
worshiped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of
my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of
his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to
the house of my master’s brethren.”
We may imagine the gay delight with which the pretty
maiden ran to exhibit the gifts of jewelry that had thus unexpectedly descended upon her. Laban, her brother, does not
prove either a generous or hospitable person in the outcome of
the story; but the ambassador of a princely relative, traveling
with a caravan of ten camels, and showering gold and jewels,
makes his own welcome. The narrative proceeds: — “And it
came to pass when he saw the earring, and the bracelets upon
his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his
sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto
the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And
he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest
thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for
the camels. And the man came into the house: and he ungirded
the camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and
44
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY
water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him.
And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will
not eat, till I have told my errand. And he said, Speak on. And
he said, I am Abraham’s servant, and the Lord hath blessed my
master greatly, and he is become great: and he hath given him
flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and
maid-servants, and camels, and asses.”
After this exordium he goes on to tell the whole story of
his oath to his master, and the purport of his journey; of
the prayer that he had uttered at the well, and of its fulfillment in a generous-minded and beautiful young maiden; and
thus he ends his story: “And I bowed down my head, and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which hath led me in the right way to take my master’s
brother’s daughter unto his son. And now, if ye will deal kindly
and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may
turn to the right hand or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel
answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we
cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s
wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass, that when
Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord,
bowing himself to the earth.”
And now comes a scene most captivating to female curiosity. Even in patriarchal times the bridegroom, it seems, provided a corbeille de mariage; for we are told: “And the servant
brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment,
and gave them to Rebekah; he gave also to her brother and to
her mother precious things.” The scene of examining jewelry
45
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
and garments and rich stuffs in the family party would have
made no mean subject for a painter. No wonder such a suitor,
sending such gifts, found welcome entertainment. So the story
goes on: “And they did eat and drink, he and the men that
were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in
the morning; and he said, Send me away unto my master. And
her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with
us a few days, at the least ten, and after that she shall go. And
he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master. And
they said, We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with
this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah
their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister; be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy
seed possess the gate of those which hate them.” The idea of
being a mother of nations gives a sort of dignity to the married
life of these patriarchal women, — it was the motherly instinct
made sublime.
Thus far, this wooing seems to have been conceived
and conducted in that simple religious spirit recognized in
the words of the old prayer: “Grant that all our works may be
begun, continued, and ended in thee.” The Father of Nations
has been a never-failing presence in every scene.
The expectant bridegroom seems to have been a youth of
a pensive, dreamy, meditative nature. Brought up with
the strictest notions of filial submission, he waits to receive
his wife dutifully from his father’s hand. Yet, as the caravan
46
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY
nears the encampment, he walks forth to meet them. “And
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he
lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,
she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant,
What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And
the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil,
and covered herself.”
In the little that is said of Rebekah, we see always that alert
readiness, prompt to see and do what is to be done at the moment. No dreamer is she, but a lively and wide-awake young
woman, who knows her own mind exactly, and has the fit word
and fit action ready for each short turn in life.She was quick,
cheerful, and energetic in hospitality.She was prompt and unhesitating in her resolve; and yet, at the moment of meeting,
she knew the value and the propriety of the veil.She covered
herself, that she might not unsought be won.
With a little touch of pathos, the story ends: “And Isaac
brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah,
and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” We see here one of those delicate and tender natures that find repose first in the love of
a mother, and, when that stay is withdrawn, lean upon a beloved wife.
So ideally pure, and sweet, and tenderly religious has been
the whole inception and carrying on and termination of this
wedding, that Isaac and Rebekah have been remembered in
the wedding ritual of the catholic Christian churches as models of a holy marriage according to the Divine will. “Send thy
47
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
blessing upon these thy servants, this man and this woman,
whom we bless in thy name; that as Isaac and Rebekah lived
faithfully together, so these persons may surely perform and
keep the vow and covenant between them.”
In the subsequent history of the family, the dramatic individuality of the characters is kept up: Isaac is the gentle,
thoughtful, misty dreamer, lost in sentiment and contemplation; and Rebekah the forward, cheerful, self-confident manager of external things. We can fancy it as one of the households
where all went as the mother said. In fact, in mature life, we
see these prompt and managing traits, leading the matron to
domestic artifices which could only be justified to herself by
her firm belief that the end pursued was good enough to sanctify the means. Energetic, lively, self-trustful young women do
sometimes form just such managing and diplomatic matrons.
Isaac, the husband, always dreamy and meditative, becomes
old and doting; conceives an inordinate partiality for the turbulent son Esau, whose skill in hunting supplies his table with
the meat he loves. Rebekah has heard the prophetic legend,
that Jacob, the younger son, is the chosen one to perpetuate
the sacred race; and Jacob, the tender, the care-taking, the domestic, is the idol of her heart.
Now, there are some sorts of women that, if convinced
there was such a Divine oracle or purpose in relation to a favorite son, would have rested upon it in quiet faith, and left
Providence to work out its ends in its own way and time. Not
so Rebekah. The same restless activity of helpfulness that led
her to offer water to all the camels, when asked to give drink
for the servant, now led her to come to the assistance of Provi-
48
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY
dence.She proposes to Jacob to make the oracle sure, and obtain
the patriarchal blessing by stratagem. When Jacob expresses
a humble doubt whether such an artifice may not defeat itself
and bring on him the curse rather than the blessing of his
father, the mother characteristically answers: “Upon me be
the curse, my son: only obey my voice.” Pages of description
could not set a character before us more sharply and distinctly
than this one incident, and nothing can show more dramatically in whose hands was the ruling power in that family.
The managing, self-reliant Rebekah, ready to do her full
share in every emergency, and to run before every occasion
with her busy plannings, is not a character of patriarchal ages
merely. Every age has repeated it, and our own is no exception. There are not wanting among us cheerful, self-confident,
domestic managers, who might take a lesson from the troubles that befell the good-hearted, but too busy and officious
Rebekah, in consequence of the success of her own schemes.
The account of this belongs to our next chapter.
LEAH AND RACHEL
In the earlier portions of the Old Testament we have, very
curiously, the history of the deliberate formation of an influential race, to which was given a most important mission in
the world’s history. The principle of selection, much talked of
now in science, is the principle which is represented in the patriarchal history as operating under a direct Divine guidance.
From the calling of Abraham, there seems to have been this
continued watchfulness in selecting the party through whom
the chosen race was to be continued. Every marriage thus far is
divinely appointed and guided. While the Fatherly providence
and nurture is not withdrawn from the rejected ones, still
the greatest care is exercised to separate from them the chosen. The latter are selected apparently not so much for moral
excellence in itself considered, as for excellence in relation to
stock. The peaceable, domestic, prudent, and conservative elements are uniformly chosen, in preference to the warlike and
violent characteristics of the age.
The marriage of Isaac and Rebekah was more like
the type of a Christian marriage than any other on record. No
other wife shared a place in his heart and home; and, even to
old age, Isaac knew no other than the bride of his youth.
50
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]